The Anschluss Era

Austria’s loss of national independence to Germany in March 1938 also meant the loss of its identity; it was renamed the AOstmark,@ or the Eastern Province. The two provincial states of Upper and Lower Austria were renamed Upper and Lower Danube - Oberdonau and Niederdonau. Austria, for all intents and purposes, no longer existed. It did not take the German Third Reich Postal Service long after the Anschluss to start including views of Austrian tourist sites in its ABildpostkarten@ series of postal cards. The 6 Pfennig Hindenburg postal card (Michel P236) was utilized for this purpose. The first Austrian scene to appear was included in the 19th series of cards, in its 38-122-1 set of views. The chosen location was Igls bei Innsbruck (38-122-1-B-3).  Thereafter, in the 20th series, two cards came out honoring Steyr, with similar views of the city.

 

The legend is AIgls bei Innsbruck (Tirol), 900rn above sea level All-year high-level spa and winter sports resort. Recuperation and sport, summer and winter@.

 

The legend states ASteyr The old iron town at the confluence of the Enns and Steyr rivers in Oberdonau.  A treasure-filled town for Gothic, Baroque, and Renaissance structures. Adolf Hitler went to school here from September 1904 to July 1905".  Note for philatelic tourists; the town is well worth a visit, and Christkindl is a suburb.

 

These were followed by single cards for Gallspach, Oberdonau, and Velden am Woerthersee.  A total of 10 view cards were issued in 1938; 9 for 1939; 22 for 1940 and 10 for 1941. All used the 6 Pf. Hindenburg imprinted postal card, were printed in Berlin and have >Gothic’ script. All Berlin printed cards have the words AHausnummer@ and APostschliessfach-nummer@ written in full. These Berlin-printed Hindenburg cards are identified as No P236 in the Michel Bildpostkarten-Katalog Deutschland (1985 edition).

 

Commencing in 1941, Adolf Hitler’s portrait was imprinted on the postal cards [Michel P 304], with the postal rate remaining at 6 Pfennig. The printing took place in Berlin, as with the previous items. The script is serifed roman. 18 Austrian views were printed and issued in this set of cards.

 

Thereafter, the rest of these tourist view cards that were issued from 1942 to 1944 [Michel P 305 & P 307J carried only the 1942 date of issue on the card. During the period of production of these Austrian tourist views, 227 cards

were issued. There were 51 Austrian sites pictured on these postal cards, with 69 picture-different views appearing on the cards - see appendix.

 

The City of Vienna did not appear on any of the view cards, possibly reflecting Hitler’s hatred for the former Austrian capital (where he had lived as a young man for a few years mired in deep poverty), as well as a profound animosity for the city’s inhabitants. Linz, a city that the German leader called his hometown, also did not fare any better, as no view of that city appeared either.

The closest city to Linz that did make the list was Wels (approximately 25 miles away), and the wording on the 12 cards issued proclaimed that Wels was Ain the Fuehrer’s Home Province.@ Kitzbühel did not make the list until 1941, appearing on both the Hindenburg and the Hitler series in that year.

 

The legend says >Kitzbühel (Tirol), 800-1800m / Mud Baths at the Black Lake I Springtime cures amid the Alpine Flora@. [The >1800m’ is a height typical of the mountains around the town.]

 

During the period 1943 to 1944, most of the postal card series sent to subscribers were lost in the mail; the cards now available to collectors were sold over the counter at the post offices.  No further view cards were issued after 1944. Unused cards with these Austrian views are somewhat rare, but rarer still are these cards used in Austria or elsewhere during the Anschluss period, and they are seldom found.

 

The legend says AAltmunster am Traunsee, 422in above sea level -Salzkammergut. Ideal for summer and winter sports: the Feuerkogel (1 625m), part of the Hollengebirge (1 86Gm) is conveniently nearby@ Postmarked with a Leipzig-Hamburg TPO cancellation dated 4 March 1939 and addressed to Worms am Rhein.

Taken fron the Austria Philatelic Society Journal *

 Vol 5 Nr 3 P 12-14

* No part of this material may be copied or reproduced without permission from the author or the Austria Philatelic Society.